Glasgow Warriors v Leicester Tigers: Champions Cup preview
Last Updated: 14/10/16 7:52pm
Leicester boss Richard Cockerill described centre Matt Toomua as "a great footballer" as the Australian star prepares to make his Tigers debut.
Toomua has played 33 Tests for Australia, most recently in their loss to the All Blacks in Sydney during the Rugby Championship, and now lines up in Leicester's midfield for their Champions Cup opener against Glasgow at Scotstoun on Friday.
With a tough Pool 1 also including French title holders Racing 92, and two-time champions Munster, Leicester coach Richard Cockerill has backed the 26-year-old to excel as he prepares for a difficult first run at Welford Road.
"There aren't many second chances in Europe and we need to get something out of Friday night," said Cockerill. "So we need our best players available.
"Matt is a top-quality player. He makes everything look very easy, and there is no substitute for quality. He has only been here a short period of time, but he's a great footballer and he learns quickly.
"Any points in Europe, especially away from home, are vital, and this is not the easiest European pool in which to win away matches, is it? There are no games where you think, 'oh, we will go there and win'.
"If we do go and win at Scotstoun, or against Munster or Racing 92 away later in the campaign, it will be a very good day at the office."
Toomua forms Leicester's centre partnership with Mathew Tait, while wing Tom Brady is handed a European debut for the Tigers. Mike Fitzgerald replaces flanker Mike Williams, who suffered a broken arm ahead of last Saturday's encounter against Worcester.
Meanwhile Scotland international prop Gordon Reid will make his 100th appearance for Glasgow, with the Warriors showing a number of changes following last weekend's Guinness PRO12 win against Zebre, including returns for the likes of Stuart Hogg, Finn Russell and Henry Pyrgos.
Glasgow head coach Gregor Townsend said: "Our history is that we have never got out of our pool in Europe, and that's the first very important, but very difficult, goal for us.
"We learn a lot when we play week in, week out against the big European teams. There was a big improvement from when we played Racing and Northampton at the start of the pool [last season] to our return games.
"We beat Racing, and we led Northampton with three minutes to go, before we picked up a yellow card and gave away a penalty. We know we have to be better than that to take on Leicester, who are improving, and Racing, who will have moved on from last season."
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Alex Dunbar, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Rory Hughes, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Henry Pyrgos (co-capt); 1 Gordon Reid, 2 Fraser Brown, 3 Zander Fagerson, 4 Tim Swinson, 5 Jonny Gray (co-capt), 6 Rob Harley, 7 Ryan Wilson, 8 Josh Strauss.
Replacements: 16 Pat MacArthur, 17 Alex Allan, 18 Sila Puafisi, 19 Matt Fagerson, 20 Lewis Wynne, 21 Ali Price, 22 Mark Bennett, 23 Sean Lamont.
Leicester Tigers: 15 Telusa Veainu, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Mathew Tait, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Tom Brady, 10 Owen Williams, 9 Ben Youngs; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Tom Youngs (c), 3 Dan Cole, 4 Dom Barrow, 5 Graham Kitchener, 6 Mike Fitzgerald, 7 Brendon O'Connor, 8 Lachlan McCaffrey.
Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Logovi'i Mulipola, 18 Greg Bateman, 19 Ed Slater, 20 Will Evans, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Peter Betham.
